Konoha's Tag-System Ninja

Chapter 197: Chapter 197: Obito’s Susanoo, and Shūichi's Celestial God of Stars!

Land of Earth

Kitsuchi was leading his team, protecting the Four-Tails, when suddenly a figure in a black cloak and mask appeared atop a bare rock pillar ahead. "Good evening, everyone!"

"Who are you?" shouted Kitsuchi, signaling for his team to halt and spread out on alert, while using sensory jutsu to scan for other enemies nearby.

Indeed, this Iwa unit was exceptionally elite.

"Who am I, you ask?" White Zetsu Tobi stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Should I really tell you? I mean, it doesn't matter if my identity is exposed, but...wouldn't that make this mask pointless?"

Kitsuchi's face darkened. "Take him down!"

Swish, swish, swish!

Iron bullets shot towards White Zetsu Tobi, but he quickly sank into the rock pillar and disappeared.

"He's completely gone, can't sense him at all," reported one of the Iwa sensory ninjas. "No other enemies detected nearby either."

"Could he have just fled?" muttered Jonin Sumashi. "Stay on guard; don't get careless."

But no sooner had he spoken than White Zetsu Tobi appeared on their left. "Hey, I'm over here!"

A squad of Iwa ninja lunged at him, but White Zetsu Tobi once again sank underground, only to reappear on their right moments later.

Sumashi shouted, "Watch the ground! This guy has some remarkable Earth Release jutsu."

White Zetsu Tobi exclaimed, "Oh no, you figured it out! Guess I can't keep playing around."

Dodging another round of attacks, White Zetsu Tobi launched his jutsu.

Spore Technique!

Instantly, white spores sprouted on the Iwa ninja surrounding the Four-Tails' sealed barrel, enveloping them—Kitsuchi and Sumashi included—and began draining their chakra.

"He's been preparing this jutsu all along!" Kitsuchi's pupils contracted. He immediately used Earth Release: Hardening Technique, spitting out sticky clay that formed a rock figure, which grabbed the spores off his body and devoured them.

Sumashi also countered with a similar Earth Release jutsu. But just then, next to the barrel holding the Four-Tails, space twisted, and Obito Uchiha, in his black cloak and mask, appeared.

Obito reached for the barrel, activating Kamui.

However, at that moment, the barrel suddenly shot upwards, lifted by a rock pillar that disrupted Obito's Kamui.

Sumashi appeared behind Obito, his arm covered in rock, swinging it down with force.

Boom!

The ground caved in, but Sumashi was shocked—his attack had passed right through Obito's body.

Kitsuchi, who had quickly reclaimed the barrel, saw this and shouted, "Protect the Four-Tails and retreat!"

He handed the barrel to another Iwa Jonin.

At that moment, Obito kicked Sumashi aside, and a faint blue chakra appeared around him. The skeletal frame of Susanoo began forming around Obito, followed by muscles and tendons.

"This guy..."

"Susanoo!" Kitsuchi's eyes widened. "Uchiha... Madara!"

Susanoo swung its arm, sending the Iwa ninja who had just escaped the Spore Technique flying with agonized cries.

Kitsuchi dodged and landed next to Sumashi. The two shared a glance and pressed their hands to the ground.

Earth Release - Mountain Stone Technique!

They worked together to summon two semi-spherical masses of rock as tall as Susanoo's shoulders, closing in to crush Susanoo between them.

Boom!

Susanoo stretched out its arms to hold back the rocks.

Gritting his teeth, Kitsuchi held steady, while Sumashi leapt high into the air. From above, he performed the Fist Rock Technique, smashing down on Susanoo's head.

Crack!

Susanoo's head fractured, and its arms shattered first, followed by the entire structure collapsing under the pressure of the Mountain Stone Technique.

Sumashi landed next to Kitsuchi. "Did we finish him?"

Kitsuchi was about to reply when he suddenly froze. The cloaked figure emerged from the rubble, unharmed.

Just then, the roar of the Four-Tails echoed across the field.

The two turned and saw the Four-Tails, freed from its seal, emerging from the barrel. White Zetsu Tobi had remotely used Kamui to create a small opening in the seal.

The Four-Tails, now unbound, fixed its gaze on Obito. Obito met its stare, raising his hand.

As the Four-Tails prepared to strike, its eyes suddenly transformed into the pattern of the Sharingan, its consciousness suppressed by the genjutsu. "Cursed Sharingan..." it muttered, reluctantly succumbing.

"This is bad!" Kitsuchi and Sumashi broke out in cold sweat.

...

Land of Grass

As soon as Obito's Susanoo appeared in the Land of Earth, Shūichi, who had been waiting, suddenly opened his eyes wide.

"It's here!"

Standing up, Shūichi looked in the direction of the Land of Earth.

Asuka closed her eyes to sense it. "This chakra... it feels a bit familiar."

"It's Obito," Shūichi replied.

Shisui's three-tomoe Sharingan spun into view. "Obito... So, is it true, as you suspected, Shūichi? Madara Uchiha hasn't appeared, which might mean he's already dead, and Obito is carrying out his plans?"

Shūichi activated the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. "We'll know soon enough."

Just then, Asuka announced, "Shūichi, the Four-Tails has appeared!"

Shūichi nodded, his expression firm. "Prepare for battle!"

Shisui and the others all nodded in unison.

In the next moment, the four of them disappeared from where they stood.

They reappeared on top of the Four-Tails.

With a whoosh, thick chains shot out from Asuka's back, binding the Four-Tails as it roared and swung its tail.

"Things just got troublesome—Shūichi and his team have arrived!" White Zetsu Tobi, seeing them, exclaimed in surprise.

The White Zetsu attached to Obito said, "It looks like we won't be able to capture it this time. This guy has acquired the Nine-Tails' power. Let's retreat!"

Obito replied, "If I go all out, it's not impossible."

Black Zetsu responded, "Then try it!"

With that, both Zetsu entities allowed Obito to take full control of his body, treating this as a test. They could still take control if he tried anything risky.

Obito's chakra flared up, and Susanoo appeared around him once more.

This time, it wasn't just a skeleton or muscular form; it had armor as well, though it only covered the upper body. Despite being incomplete, the Susanoo manifested twin blades in its hands.

"So, this is the Susanoo of the Mangekyou Sharingan..." Shisui, witnessing a full Susanoo for the first time, flashed in front of the Four-Tails and spun his Sharingan, dispelling the genjutsu controlling the beast.

As consciousness returned, the Four-Tails spoke, "Thank you."

"Shūichi, it seems you were right about everything," Shisui said.

The Four-Tails added, "The ninja world has become incredibly dangerous. Beware of another figure out there."

Leaving a shadow clone behind, Shūichi rose into the sky. As he activated the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, intricate purple lotus patterns appeared.

With each step, he created lotus flowers in the air, finally stopping mid-air, meeting Obito's masked gaze. Shūichi formed hand seals.

"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"

"Watch your footing!" Black Zetsu warned Obito.

But Obito was already analyzing Shūichi's use of hand seals with suspicion. Given Shūichi's proficiency, he rarely needed more than two seals for any jutsu. Even for a Shadow Clone Technique, he usually skipped hand seals entirely. That he used them now suggested something unusual.

Memorizing Shūichi's hand seal sequence, Obito glanced down at the mud beginning to pull Susanoo down and scoffed. "A jutsu like this is useless against Susanoo!"

In response, Susanoo evolved further, sprouting legs, and Obito appeared on its forehead.

Despite the vast reach of Shūichi's Swamp of the Underworld, enhanced by Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and Sage Mode, Susanoo merely pressed its hands on the ground and lifted itself out of the swamp. It leaped into the air, drawing its chakra blades and swinging them at Shūichi.

Purple lotus patterns bloomed as Shūichi deftly evaded the chakra blades. Forming seals once more, he unleashed lava fireballs that exploded upon Susanoo, cracking its surface.

White Zetsu gasped, "The Nine-Tails' chakra is amplifying his jutsu!"

With a deafening crash, Susanoo landed, and Obito saw two chakra arms extending from Shūichi's body above him. With a buzzing sound, multiple Rasenshuriken manifested, infused with various chakra natures.

"Sage Art: Scorch Release Rasenshuriken, Sage Art: Lava Release Rasenshuriken, Sage Art: Magnet Release Rasenshuriken!"

"What a monstrous amount of chakra..." Kitsuchi, watching from a distance, said, "We have to retreat from here!"

As the Iwa Shinobi fell back, Shūichi unleashed three Rasenshuriken in succession.

In response, Obito's Susanoo materialized four large, black shuriken. He threw them to counter Shūichi's Rasenshuriken, using Kamui to absorb the explosions just as they were about to detonate.

One remaining shuriken flew toward the Four-Tails.

Above the Four-Tails, Shūichi's clone raised his hand, projecting a black sigil to intercept it.

"Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder!"

The two spatial techniques collided, and the black shuriken passed through only to meet Shisui's Great Fireball Technique head-on, canceling each other out.

For now, they were evenly matched.

But within Susanoo, Obito paused as he deciphered Shūichi's coded message in the hand seals.

"Rin...fake death...escape...spy?"

Could Rin really still be alive? Or was this another trick? What about the Three-Tails?

For a moment, Obito was overwhelmed with conflicting thoughts, his heart wrenched.

"Such troublesome space-time ninjutsu..." White Zetsu sighed.

Obito refocused, saying, "This is only the beginning. Besides, I only have one eye..."

Black Zetsu replied, "Don't worry; once you're fully with us, that eye will be yours again. The stronger you become, the better for us."

Obito gave a curt nod. "Understood."

Just then, Shūichi landed, clapping his hands together. Outside of his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, a purple chakra rapidly expanded around him, forming a massive figure no less powerful than Obito's Susanoo.

It was Shūichi's new creation: Celestial God of Stars — a massive three-headed, six-armed giant.

Enhanced by Scorch Release and Sage Mode, and further amplified by Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, this towering figure had a head sculpted in Shūichi's likeness, with two fierce dragon heads on either side.

In stunned silence, even Obito, the Iwa Shinobi, and Shūichi's own team watched as he revealed this new form.

Asuka, eyes wide with pride and amazement, whispered, "Incredible!"

Shisui, both astonished and delighted, muttered, "When did Shūichi develop this? It's almost like a Susanoo!"

The Iwa Shinobi, watching from a safe distance, could only gape, swallowing hard.

"This... this kind of power... it's not even from this world!"

"What a terrifying enemy. Only the Third Tsuchikage could ever handle someone like that..."

..

With a heavy expression, Kitsuchi remarked, "To have such power at this age... he's practically a monster."

Sumashi nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Obito, though momentarily shocked, sneered with feigned arrogance, "It's just for show. How could it possibly compare to the true power of Susanoo?"

As he spoke, Susanoo took a step forward, causing the earth to tremble, and swung its arms, wielding two massive chakra blades aimed at Shuichi's celestial construct, the God of Stars.

In response, Shuichi's God of Stars raised an arm on each side, summoning two blazing purple chakra blades, formed from his Scorch Style, with the base technique of Blue Flame Vacuum Slash.

Clang!

The four blades clashed, releasing a violent shockwave.

Next, Susanoo's two additional arms clenched into fists and struck forward. The God of Stars countered with two fists of its own, resulting in another thunderous collision.

Boom!

Blinding light and fierce gales erupted, forcing Shisui, Asuka, and others to raise their hands to shield themselves from the impact.

Then, the God of Stars' third pair of hands moved, manifesting two Scorch Release Rasenshuriken, which it smashed down toward Susanoo's face.

Crack!

Crack!

Under Obito's stunned gaze, his Susanoo began to fracture and shatter rapidly. The Rasenshuriken exploded in full force, engulfing him in searing light and overwhelming energy.

...

From atop the Four-Tails, Uchiha Shisui squinted his eyes. "Is it over? Did that take out Obito? ...No, Shuichi knows better. That wouldn't be enough. Obito's Mangekyo Sharingan technique involves space-time manipulation."

Sure enough, as the light faded and the storm settled, Shisui could see Uchiha Obito standing unscathed atop a rock pillar.

(End of Chapter)